Home›African Language Families›Macro-area›Nilo-SaharanGroupNilo-SaharanThis group collects members of the Nilo-Saharan family, a proposed grouping of roughly 210 languages spoken by about 70 million people across seventeen African nations along the upper Chari and Nile river basins, comprising the Nilotic branch (Western, Eastern and Southern, including the Luo, Maa and Kalenjin languages), the Central Sudanic, Eastern Sudanic, Saharan and Songhay branches, and several smaller proposed members. Placement follows each member's own description naming it Nilo-Saharan, Nilotic, Sudanic, Saharan or Songhay, or one of these named branches.FactsNilo-SaharanSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsComparisonEstimated Living LanguagesWell-attested210 1Nilo-SaharanFilter Results52 entriesParent Family (Classification Tree)AllCentral Sudanic (2)Mangbutu-Lese languages (1)Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi languages (1)RegionAllChad and southern Libya (1)Chad, Central African Republic (1)Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda (1)Chad, Sudan (1)Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic (1)Darfur region of western Sudan and adjoining Chad (1)From southern Egypt to northern Tanzania (1)Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda (1)Kenya and northern Tanzania (1)Kordofan and Darfur, Sudan; Wadai, Chad (1)Nuba Hills (1)Nuba Mountains of Sudan (1)Nuba Mountains of the South Kordofan region of Sudan (1)Nuba Mountains, Sudan (2)Raja County, South Sudan (1)Southern Nuba Mountains, in the south of Sudan. (1)Southwestern Ethiopia and southeastern South Sudan (1)Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad (1)The Nuba Hills (Nuba Mountains) of Sudan. (1)western Kenya, eastern Uganda (1)Western Kenya, eastern Uganda, northern Tanzania (2)Speaker Count BandAll400.000000 (1)10000.000000 (1)50000.000000 (1)60000.000000 (1)75000.000000 (1)79000.000000 (1)103050.000000 (1)164000.000000 (1)196000.000000 (1)249000.000000 (1)375000.000000 (1)377000.000000 (1)542000.000000 (1)580000.000000 (1)1000000.000000 (1)2000000.000000 (1)15000000.000000 (1)31000000.000000 (1)70000000.000000 (1)In GroupAllNilo-Saharan (52)BrowseCompareSelect all 52Bagirmi languagesAfrican Language FamiliesBertaAfrican Language FamiliesBongo-Baka languagesAfrican Language FamiliesBurun languagesAfrican Language FamiliesCentral SudanicAfrican Language Families2 linksDajuAfrican Language FamiliesEastern JebelAfrican Language FamiliesEastern Nilotic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesEastern Sudanic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesElgon languagesAfrican Language FamiliesFurAfrican Language FamiliesGumuzAfrican Language FamiliesHeiban LanguagesAfrican Language FamiliesHill Nubian languagesAfrican Language FamiliesKaduAfrican Language FamiliesKalenjin languagesAfrican Language FamiliesKir-Abbaian LanguagesAfrican Language FamiliesKomanAfrican Language FamiliesKomuz languagesAfrican Language FamiliesKordofanianAfrican Language FamiliesKreshAfrican Language FamiliesKresh-Aja LanguagesAfrican Language FamiliesKuliakAfrican Language FamiliesKunamaAfrican Language FamiliesLafofaAfrican Language FamiliesLenduic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesLuoAfrican Language FamiliesMaa languagesAfrican Language FamiliesMabanAfrican Language FamiliesMangbetu languagesAfrican Language FamiliesMangbutu-Lese languagesAfrican Language Families1 linkMimi of DecorseAfrican Language FamiliesNara languageAfrican Language FamiliesNilo-SaharanAfrican Language Families2 linksNiloticAfrican Language FamiliesNorthern Eastern Sudanic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesNubianAfrican Language FamiliesNyimaAfrican Language FamiliesNyimang LanguagesAfrican Language FamiliesSaharanAfrican Language FamiliesSara languagesAfrican Language FamiliesSara-Bongo-Bagirmi languagesAfrican Language Families1 linkShaboAfrican Language FamiliesSouthern Eastern Sudanic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesSouthern Nilotic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesSurmicAfrican Language FamiliesTalodi LanguagesAfrican Language FamiliesTalodi-HeibanAfrican Language FamiliesTaman languagesAfrican Language FamiliesTebu languagesAfrican Language FamiliesTemeinAfrican Language FamiliesWestern Nilotic languagesAfrican Language FamiliesSources1. Wikipedia: Nilo-Saharan Languagestier 2Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first paragraphQuote, Lead section, first paragraphThe Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed linguistic family consisting of around 210 Native African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet.View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.